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into_the_woods

recipe(s) for jujubes?

Into_the_woods
19 years ago

A friend is going to let me pick jujubes when they are ripe. I searched on jujube, Chinese date, and red date. But the only recipes I can find use dried or candied jujubes. Does anyone have information on how to dry them, how to candy them, or recipes for using them fresh. I hate to pass up the opportunity, but gee, what do I do with them? TIA.

Into the Woods.

Comments (10)

  • pepe85323
    19 years ago

    I haven't made it, but found this recipe on SOAR

    Jujube Cake

    Recipe By :
    Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
    Categories : Cakes Ceideburg 2
    Chinese Mc

    Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
    -------- ------------ --------------------------------
    1/2 pound Dried jujubes
    2 tablespoons Ginseng powder
    1/2 pound Glutinous rice flour

    Knead the jujube with the glutinous rice flour, add Ginseng. Make dough
    into any form of large biscuit, place in biscuit molds. Steam cook for 5 to
    10 minutes. Cakes should be very soft but keep their shape.

    From "The Ginseng Book", Louise Veninga, Ruka Publications, 1973.

    Posted by Stephen Ceideberg; May 17 1993.

    Most of the recipes I get from SOAR are very good, but once in a while, somebody makes a mistake and they don't
    come out so good.

  • Into_the_woods
    Original Author
    19 years ago

    Hi Pepe,

    Thanks for taking the time to reply to my request for fresh jujube recipes.

    Most of the recipes I found have, like yours, used dried jujubes. If I could find a recipe for drying the fresh ones I'd be happy.

    I just don't know if it is worthwhile to pick the fresh ones to eat like a fruit or if it makes more sense to pass up the opportunity because they are better dried.

    The lack of responses, other than yours, sort of makes me think that fresh jujubes are not very popular.

    regards,
    IntotheWoods

  • cso1
    19 years ago

    Just let the jujubes dry on the tree. Then they can be used in recipes.

  • lostman
    19 years ago

    Some jujubes wont dry well on the tree. I dont know if it has anything to do with the humidity of my area or not. I have tasted some that were soured on the tree. But others seem to do well.

    Robert

  • gponder
    19 years ago

    Jujube is one of my favorite fruits. Very medicinal but, yes, recipes are hard to find!. I found this one doing a google search. It sounds promising. Will be trying it for myself soon. Good Luck!
    GP

    Research on the nutritional and culinary uses of jujube fruit, done in the Food Science section of Texas A&M's Horticultural Sciences Department in the 1940s by Dr. Homer Blackhurst, revealed a very high vitamin C content. Experiments where the seeds were removed and the fruit cooked with water, sugar, and seasonings resulted in a product much like apple butter, and in taste tests with apple butter it was selected as superior.

    Here is one recipe taken from USDA publication B-1215 (date unknown) entitled "Methods of Utilizing the Chinese Jujube."

    JUJUBE BUTTER

    6 pints jujube pulp

    5 pints sugar

    2 teaspoons cinnamon

    1 lemon

    1 teaspoon nutmeg

    1/2 teaspoon cloves

    1/4 pint vinegar

    Boil fruit until tender in sufficient water to cover it. Rub cooked fruit through a sieve or colander to remove the skin and seeds. Cook slowly until thick, put in jars, and seal while hot.

  • meixue
    19 years ago

    Hi, Well from my experience you are right, Jujube's are usually utilized in dry form. I've never had any in recipes using them fresh. We use dried JuJube to make chinese chicken soup. We cook it with chicken, ginger, one green onion sprig and chinese mushrooms (dried). The Jujube is used in the soup to give it a slight sweetness and aroma but mostly used because they say its good for you (cant remember for what). Sorry couldnt be of more help with the fresh fruit recipes but I absolutely love them fresh and have even contemplated buying a jujube tree! Good luck!
    Meixue

  • Modjadje
    19 years ago

    well, it might be a bit late, but my advice would be to dry them like any other fruit ... i.e. slice, drain, place on flat area like cookie baking sheets, and dry at very low heat in the warming drawer of your oven, or a dehydrator, if you have one, or outside in the sun if you live in a warm dry sunny place ... but you mentioned high humidity so I suppose the warming drawer will be best.
    If you search for "how to dry fruit" you will get good general tips, often from the USDA.

  • lostman
    19 years ago

    You also might check with the Califonia Rare Fruit Growers. There is a guy there named Roger Meyers who is the Jujube expert. He may be able to help.

    Robert

  • raddog
    18 years ago

    I posted this in another forum, but does anyone know much about growing Z.jijuba in zone 5(b)? I'm interested in trying if it'd be worth my time.

    All information, advice, personal anecdotes, etc. will be gratefully received... thanks!

    - john

    Here is a link that might be useful: Some basic info on jijube

  • raddog
    12 years ago

    FWIW, I planted 3 jujubes here in Kansas. Two were killed by the weather, but 4 years later the third is doing great! I get HUGE crops that have gotten bigger each summer. I still haven't quite figured out the best time to pick them and eat them, however. When they "look" best, they taste kind of like a low-grade apple. If I leave them until they shrivel up, which I've read is the appropriate thing to do, bugs really get after them.

    At any rate, the lone survivor is an amazingly hardy tree having survived a lot of sub-zero winter days without any noticeable effects.

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